ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved Rs1,914.83 million in technical supplementary grants for various ministries and divisions on Wednesday in addition to approving various summaries.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar was present at the cabinet committee meeting, according to a press release from the finance ministry. According to a press release, ECC suspended the import restrictions set forth in Import Policy Order 2022 relating to the import of Timber and Wood from the date of IPO 2022’s issuance to October 31, 2023, with instructions to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to review the import restrictions and make recommendations to resolve this issue.
The ECC also approved another summary of the Ministry of Commerce regarding amendment in the relevant clause in the Import Policy Order 2022 to allow government agencies to import pharmaceutical raw materials.
The Ministry of Energy( Power Division) submitted a summary regarding the Quarterly Tariff Adjustments of K-Electric and informed that as per National Electricity Policy 2021, the government may maintain a uniform consumer-end tariff for K-Electric and state-owned distribution companies.
Accordingly, KE’s applicable uniform variable charge is required to be modified to maintain the uniform tariff across the country.
The ECC approved a surcharge of Rs.1.52/unit to be recovered from K-Electric Consumers in 12 months. The ECC further allowed the release and utilization of the available budget of Rs76 billion as payment of arrears under different heads.
The ECC considered another summary of the Ministry of Energy( Power Division) regarding the implementation of a revised circular debt management plan and utilization of Rs20.726 billion to government-owned power plants.
The committee after discussion authorized Power Division to utilize a one-time full amount out of the assignment account in relaxation of the limit of using Rs4 billion per month during June 2023 for the next five months and to ensure that there will be no more payment liability to IPPs for the period July 2023 to Nov 2023.
The ECC also considered and approved another summary of Power Division regarding the release of Rs. 56 billion as approved under revised CDMP against the AJ&K receivables.
The ECC approved various Technical Supplementary Grants (TSG) including Rs. 567.120 million in favour of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for its development expenditure and Rs. 40 Million in favour of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for Cadet College Hasan Abdal for need-based scholarships to financially challenged students.
The committee approved Rs. 14.022 million as TSG in favour of the Federal Tax Ombudsman for ERE expenditure; Rs 19.236 million as TSG in favour of the Ministry of Interior for Repair & Maintenance of Helicopter by Pakistan Rangers; Rs. 6.279 million as TSG in favour of the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports and Rs. 150 million as TSG in favour of Intelligence Bureau to meet its ERE expenditure.
The ECC approved Rs. 147.913 million as TSG in favour of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council and its departments; Rs 500 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works for the execution of development projects and Rs 470.26 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works for Repair & Maintenance of Supreme Court of Pakistan building, Islamabad and Judges residences, Rest houses & sub-offices in various cities.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar; Federal Minister for Power, Khuram Dastgir Khan; Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema; Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Syed Murtaza Mahmud; Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Masood Malik; SAPM on Finance,Tariq Bajwa; SAPM on Revenue, Tariq Mehmood Pasha; Coordinator to the PM on Economy, Bilal Azhar Kayani; Coordinator to PM on Commerce & Industry, Rana Ihsan Afzal; Federal Secretaries and other senior officers.
